Huangshan 黄山

HUANGSHAN, ANHUI, CHINA

(also knows as YELLOW MOUNTAIN of CHINA)

Let's start our adventure!!!!!

After our 5 days trip at Jiangnan, we continued our journey to Huangshan 黄山. We planned to visit this place 2 years ago. But because my daughter fell sick at that time, so our plan was postponed until this time. However too bad she fell sick this time too.

We departed from Hangzhou to Tunxi 屯溪 and stayed a night there before heading to Huangshan the next morning. Tunxi is a town at the foot of Huangshan, it takes only 1.5 hour drive to Huangshan cable car station.

Tunxi 屯溪

Driving along 杭瑞高速 from Hangzhou to Tunxi.....
We have a night stay before we proceed to Huangshan the next morning.

The view along the journey.... 

Can you feel the fresh smell from the countryside?

Soooo Calm....

Notice the yellow colour plant?
That is rapeseed flower 菜籽花, it is used to produce rapeseed oil 菜籽油.

After few hours of drive, we finally reached Tunxi.
Below is the famous Tunxi ancient street 屯溪老街.

See those citrus salad. Some are really spicy..

On our way back to hotel, we saw this aunty on a tricycle. Since she only charged us CNY15 for the ride, we immediately agreed to go with her. Along the way, she introduced us the tour for Huangshan. Hence we stopped at her family member's office, discussed on the offer, and did the deal of joining their Huangshan trip for the next two days.

Huangshan 黄山

Yay!!!! We finally reached Huangshan mountain foot!!! So happy!!!
This is Tangkou 汤口镇, the place where we deposit our luggage prior heading up the mountain. For your info, take only the things that you really need as the mountain will be all climbing routes.

There are 2 ways to get up to Huangshan. One is via foot, which takes about 2.5 hours (depending on individual). Another easier way is by cable car, which takes about 10 minutes only.

The image below shows everyone of us walking towards the cable car station.

Despite the fact that I've tried to leave behind as many luggage as I could, I still have one luggage with all the necessities with me. I really don't like carry things during adventures as it adds on extra weight on me. I felt so uncomfortable carrying the bag, especially it is a handbag.

In case you are confused with Huangshan routes/map, I personally think this map given by Baiyun hotel to its guests is very simple and useful.

There are 2 cable car routes to choose from to get up the mountain.

Personally I think this link is very good as it provides very detailed information on the cable car.
http://www.colourhs.com/a/huangshantutechan/huangshanlvyougonglue/2010/0119/234.html

The more common option to get up is via the Yungu Cableway 云谷新索道 from the back mountain 后山. It takes you from Yungu Temple 云谷寺 to Bai Er Mountain 白鹅岭. This cost per person is CNY80 for one way.

The other cableway from the front mountain 前山 is the Yuping Cableway 玉屏索道. This brings you from the Ciguang Pavilion 慈光阁 to Yuping Building 玉屏楼. The cost is CNY90 for one way. We took this down the mountain instead.

The view from the cable car keeps us in awe. Totally impressed by Huangshan. But we know, there are more for us to explore and unveil these 2 days. We totally looked forward for it!

We were so surprised to see snow on some slopes... that means the weather is quite cold outside..

Finally, we reached the top of the mountain! Pretty amazed huh :)

Feel great....

Layer by layer of mountains... endless kinda feeling... I was thinking, how can I mix the paint in order to draw out this layering of mountains.. there are so many layers...

And now.... the hike officially starts.... it is not easy, but thankful that the steps are well maintained. This helps make the hike easier.

I am too exhausted... I am going to die.... I just completed 0.8km here, but there are total 10km to go..
I look at the snow, but I don't feel cold at all. It is too hot climbing and carry a bag at the same time... I wish I could throw the bag away, but... what to wear for the next day? hahaha

As the view is too nice.... so I continue walking... and because I saw the ah pek at the picture below... Ah pek so old also can walk.. I kiah su... so I continue climbing until I reached for lunch... so hungry....

Not too bad. I am still able to laugh although my leg is so painful...

After walking and climbing for about 1.5km, we reached White Goose Hotel 白鹅山庄. We had our lunch here. Luckily we get the tour guide to book the lunch for us. Once reach then can eat immediately. Otherwise it is hard to get food here as there are no restaurants at all!

Knowing that I was too exhausted, and my leg couldn't take it anymore, I decided not to continue walking for the rest of the day. Therefore, I took the short cut back to my hotel at Baiyun Hotel 白云宾馆, whereas my child and her friends continue to conquer the mountain. The tour guide said they have to climb for another!!!!!km

Even though I am taking the short cut, it is another 1.5km climb. Knowing that taking my luggage with me is a burden, I paid a local people to help me carry my luggage bag, which cost me CNY300. I have no choice, but to pay whatever they request. Here is the lesson: train your body well before you come. And pack as little as possible as the whole journey is all steps. However the weather is too hard to predict. It just snowed 2 days ago before we went up. Who can predict this? No one. So better get everything ready in case you freeze.

We are very lucky as the weather is bright and sunny that day. The tour guide told us that usually Huangshan would only have about 60 days of sunny day in a year. We were there from 28th-29th March 2016. You might want to travel around that time or later.

So those photos below are taken by my daughter. But she also walk like a dead cat, dragging her feet, because she never do any exercise at all. Not to bad for her can climb Huangshan. So, it is better to climb Huangshan when you are still young as you have more energy.

There is no lift at Huangshan. All food need to be carried manually, and they never use cable car to transport it. Before we came here, we read a lot of comments online saying that the food on the mountain is expensive and not tasty. Seeing this, we never complain that the food on the mountain is not nice. Besides that, all these steps are constructed manually as well. Therefore, we must appreciate their hard work. Because of them, our journey at Huangshan is eased.

Huangshan is famous for 4 things: strange-looking pines 奇松, weird-looking stones 怪石, clouds 云海, hot spring 温泉.

The picture below is the Black Tiger Pine 黑虎松 as the tree looks like a tiger. The tour guide said that ladies must not take picture with it otherwise will be as angry as tiger.

This pine on the left looks like an umbrella, hence the name Umbrella Pine 雨伞松.

Can you see the steps?
A-W-E-S-O-M-E !!!

This is the view facing Beihai 北海.
The Meng Bi Sheng Hua 梦笔生花 is at our right hand side.

The Meng Bi Sheng Hua got its name as there is a tree growing right on top of the rock, looking like a flower drawn out from the writing brush.

The exterior of Beihai Hotel 北海宾馆.

Another pine - Unity Pine 团结松. You can see its roots intertwisting each other, and the six trunks clinging each other, symbolize the unity of Chinese people.

Can you spot the rock sitting on another rock in the middle? That is Flying-Over Rock飞来石.

Next up, we reached Xihai Hotel 西海饭店.

And this is the famous Xihai 西海 (West Sea). It is well known for its clouds, but apparently there weren't any on that day. It was so clear that we could see the city beneath it.

There are a lot of signs along the way, so don't worry if you get lost. There is only basically one way in, and one way out.
The only thing you have to worry is to continue walking and reach home before sunset. This is because it will be very dark at night outside.

The pathway at Xihai is not easy to conquer. If you scared of heights, or have heart disease, it is best recommend not to come here.
The steps are very steep, and some are very narrow. If you see closely, there is no rock support beneath the steps. What would happen if it breaks?

Can you see the snow on the other side?

Scary steps...

The path along the mountain is steep, winding and dangerous...

We were walking towards the pavilion below.

Someone did actually stand at the edge and ask me to take picture of him!

So many steps... my leg was so sore... but if we don't walk, we would end up sleeping and freezing in the deep mountain.

If you compare the mountain rocks formation, the rocks are longer and sharper at the back mountain, whereas smoother and rounder at the front mountain.

Yay yay we finally saw the Xihai Canyon Cable Car 西海大峡谷缆车 after a long half day walk. Although we can see it already, it is still very far away. Can you imagine how scary and adventurous this journey is?

W.O.W .....Dangerous

Wow wow wow... how to cross this...

Even though I couldn't continue with this kind of adventure explore, I needed to thank my daughter who helped me took all those marvelous photo for me to view.

ah... better to stick to the mountain wall...

We were finally in the Canyon Cable Car. Personally, I don't think there is anything too special about it. The view when we were walking is much better from inside the Canyon Cable Car.

And Huangshan view from the cable car window...

After coming out from the cable car, there is only 500m more then we will be at our hotel -Baiyun Hotel. So excited!!! Especially after you carry your luggage and walk for whole day long.. knowing your hotel is near is a total relief.

We can finally see a glimpse of our hotel!

Woohoo!!! We are at our hotel finally!!

The main entrance of Baiyun Hotel... There is a spacious open space in front of the hotel. The hotel consists of few blocks of building. The building we stayed is same as the lobby and restaurant.

The lobby of Baiyun Hotel is well decorated. The is a digital signboard that informs us with the weather, time and probability of sunset and sunrise. On that day, the probability of seeing sunset is  74% whereas the sunrise next morning is only 50%. Therefore we made the decision to not miss the sunset that evening.

As we booked the wooden rooftop room, we needed to climb all the way up to the 5th floor.
We then only realized because there is no way to transport lift up the mountain. This made us slightly regret as our leg muscles were already were painful from the whole day walk. And now we still need to climb for another 5 floors. This is really torturing.

As the room is covered with roof, it is very warm inside despite the weather outside is only about 4 degree at night. Frankly speaking, this is the night that we slept the best. Cozy, warm, comfy - all these well describes the room. If you ask me, I would still recommend Baiyun Hotel, but make sure you book the economy standard room.

From what our tour guide told us, there are 3 types of stay at the mountain. The cheapest is where you get a mattress and sleep at any corner of the hotel. For this, the bed linen is changed only once a month hence  very dirty and stinky. The second cheapest option is to stay at the dorm with shared bathroom, and the bed linen are changed once a week. The finally expensive option is to book economy standard room whereby you get your own bathroom and the bed linen is changed every time someone moves in.

Let me share with you some other great things about Baiyun Hotel!
Firstly, they do provide jacket! We don't need to worry of freezing. Secondly, the breakfast next morning has lots of variety and yummy. We were totally impressed with the hotel service!

Despite already very tired and my legs were extremely painful, I still insisted to head to Bright Summit 光明顶 for the sunset as the probability of seeing it is quite high. It is a continuous 0.5km hike up the steps to the Bright Summit. It is really torturing but there is no reason to turn back. Many other people were heading for the sunset too.

After about 20 mins climb, I finally reach the summit!!! The white round ball is the landmark at the summit. The building is actually an observatory.

There were already many people at the Bright Summit by the time I reached there. Many of them were wearing the Baiyun Hotel jacket!

Finally.. after wishing for so long... I can finally see the sunset of Huangshan!!!! I was so happy, and felt awe with the universe. There is no words that could describe my feeling at that moment. All the pain from the climb is totally worth it!

The sunset is unbelieveably gorgeous. We were so lucky to have such beautiful weather during our trip up Huangshang. We really can't use any words to describes our blessed feeling being at the top of the mountain.

At night, we only had maggi mee and biscuits we brought from Tunxi for dinner as the food on the mountain is too expensive. Later on, we massaged our legs and put on "counter pain" for muscle relief. That helps a lot, at least we get a good night rest without any midnight pain.

After breakfast next morning, we continue hiking at the front mountain 前山. At the front mountain, the rock formation are generally much rounder.

From where we were at, we could see the bright summit at distance. Couldn't believe we actually walked that far.

The weather on our second day at Huangshan was a bit moody. It was a totally different feeling from the sunny day before.

We were finally at the famous Aoyu Peak 鳌鱼峰.
From the peak, we walked pass the Aoyu Hole 鳌鱼洞. The view at the peak is very amazing. On and off, we could hear people release their tension by screaming their lungs out.

The Aoyu Hole

From the Aoyu Peak, we could see the BaiBu YunTi = the-Cloud-Ladder 百步云梯 at far. Are we going to climb that thing? Oh no... the steps are leading us there. How are we going to do this??

Along the way, we could see trees with metal strips attached to the rock. This is to prevent the tree from breaking.

One thing we forget to do is to climb the famous narrow cliff 一线天. See the google image below then you would understand why it is a must try if you have stamina.

We finally reach the Lotus Peak 莲花峰. Photos below are view of the Aoyu Peak seen from the Lotus Peak. If you see clearly, you could see the Aoyu Hole and the pathway we have climbed all the way.

Still looking at Aoyu Peak... but this time with the steps.

And so, we finally reached the scary the-Cloud-Ladder 百步云梯. Let's get ready, and start! Do not stop half way after you started. Just continue moving and keep your momentum going until you reach the top. Otherwise it would be difficult to finish that hundred steps.

Looking back at the cloud ladder, only we realised it was quite steep.

After conquering the-Cloud-Ladder, we reached the Lotus Pavilion 莲花亭. The view of the mountain rangers here were impressive as well. Layer-by-layer of rock mountains, and a dam in between.

After the-Cloud-Ladder, the remaining steps don't seem that challenging anymore. We took our leisure time to continue moving forward.

Along the way, we saw the "Rabbit and Turtle Race" 龟兔赛跑. Can you see at the middle low mountain, there is a stone rabbit with pointing ears at the top? Below next to the pine tree there is the turtle with its head facing to the left. The scale of those two animals is not that accurate actually.

The lines on this rock mountain is caused by lighting strike. Don't you think it is cool?

The scenery at Huangshan is truly breathtaking and memorable. Each spots has its own specialty. What we could do is to take as many pictures as possible and enjoy the scenery at the mean time.

At last, we spot the cable car! We couldn't wait to reach the station as our legs were sore. However at the same time, we started missing Huangshan and the memories it had given us.

Although we saw the cable car already, but the way there is still long...

We also spotted the Dolphin Stone 海豚石.

Can you see the tower? We have actually walked from the back of the mountain to the top of the tower to this front of the mountain.

Image below shows the rock formation of a fish and a turtle fighting for a pine tree 鱼龟争松.

Behing Yuping Hotel 玉屏楼宾馆, there is a smaller rock mountain. On it you could see engraved wordings on the rocks.

This is the famous Welcoming Guest Pine 迎客松. It is a must see if you visit Huangshan. If you took the Yuping Cable Car up the hill, this will be the first thing you will see.

Not far away, there is the Farewell Pine 送客松. This pine looks like a man clasps his hand in the wind saying goodbye to its guests. It is at the intersection towards the Yuping Cableway. 

There is another 500m to the cable car.. Let's do it...

Finally, we were at the cable car, leaving Huangshan. This ride felt longer. Not sure it's because of the longer distance, or we felt unwilling to leave this mesmerized mountain.

At the end of our Huangshan exploration, I was so proud that I managed to complete my dream to visit Huangshan mountain till the peak . Even though I knew I didn't manage to complete every steps,  But I would still call it a "Blessing Journey Up The Mountain"  by Dora Ling hahaha...
Anyhow I Made It.

Hangzhou 杭州

After few hours in the car, we were back to Hangzhou, getting ready to fly back KL the next day.

This is our hotel for the night:
Hanting Elan Hotel Hangzhou West Lake Jiefang Road Branch

汉庭怡莱酒店杭州西湖解放路店

This hotel has a very strong Asian feel. Mostly everything is made from wood or metal, and in brown or gold colour. 

The wash basin and the mirror is actually hidden inside the wardrobe (on one side). We could slide the wardrobe door to hide it behind.

The living and bed area..

We didn't took photo of the bathroom, but it is consider pleasant. Can think about it if you want stay in this hotel. But please be aware, there is no breakfast provided at this hotel as it is only a 3-star motel. However you could always walk around the neighbourhood to look for food.

For dinner, we initially wanted to go Hu Qing Yu Tang Restaurant 胡庆余堂药膳 (refer link below for restaurant detail).
http://www.dianping.com/shop/2773720
However as we left the hotel late, the taxi driver told us that the restaurant would have been closed by the time we reached. Therefore we had our dinner at 皇饭儿 Restaurant, HeFang Road 河坊街. This restaurant is a place where the locals would go to. Please be aware not to buy anything from HeFang Road. The things sold there are all fake items as the name of the street spells - "imitate street"

After a good night rest, we were finally heading to the airport. We booked an local van as 4 of us have many big luggage which couldn't fit into a taxi. The van is similar to the image below. Taking this van cost from JieFang Road to Hangzhou airport costs us CNY180. One taxi would cost approx CNY100.

After 5 hours of flight, we touched down at KL. This marks the end of our Huangshan 4 days 3 nights trip. Unforgetable and wonderful experience.